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FIELD TRIP TO SEPULVEDA BASIN THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE, PULLED FROM THE OFFICIAL SEPULVEDA BASIN WILDLIFE REFUGE WEBSITE, IS DESIGNED TO GIVE YOU A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE AREA AND WHAT POLICIES GOVERN THE RUNNING OF THE SEPULVEDA BASIN REFUGE. WHY HERE? The Los Angeles River drains the vast watershed of the San Fernando Valley and surrounding mountains--finally emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach. In years of heavy rainfall, this normally tame watercourse becomes a mighty force--as was the case in 1938 when torrential rains caused the river to flood adjacent farms and homes. Consequently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channelized the river and built the Sepulveda Dam to capture and hold floodwaters for later gradual release down the river. Except for infrequent but dramatic flood episodes, this otherwise dry-land flood control basin, most of which is leased from the Corps by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks, plays host to diverse uses today including athletic fields, agriculture, golf courses, a fishing lake, parklands, a sewage treatment facility, AND A GROWING WILDLIFE RESERVE. GOING NATIVE Forward-thinking citizens and government planners hatched the idea for a designated wildlife reserve in the 60s and 70s when much of the basin was open land or in agriculture and becoming surrounded by suburban growth. With so much land being developed for urban and recreational uses, some saw it critical to reserve lands in the lowest flood-prone basin areas and "recreate" a natural habitat for birds and small animals with native vegetation where people would be welcome as visitors. THE WILDLIFE AREA TODAY The present-day wildlife reserve is a product of several phases of development. The first effort in 1979 established the 48-acre riparian area south of Burbank Blvd. between the dam and The Los Angeles River. Formal establishment of the 60-acre habitat north of Burbank Blvd. between the dam and Haskell Creek in 1988 involved grading for the wildlife lake and extensive plantings of native annuals, shrubs, and trees. Pathways were created for educational and enjoyment purposes. The lake became filled with reclaimed water from the nearby Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in 1992. The latest and most extensive addition to the area is the 1998 expansion project funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adding an educational staging area and amphitheatre, various pathway/signage/viewing area improvements, new pedestrian bridges over and a reconfiguration and revegetation of Haskell Creek, additional native plantings, and the formal inclusion of 60 additional acres west of Haskell Creek to Woodley Ave. The resulting 225-acre Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve today is one of the finest refuges of its kind within a major urban area in the country. It serves not only as a restored natural habitat for wildlife but as a living laboratory for all to enjoy. ANIMALS FOUND AT THE RESERVE There is not a diverse population of non-flying animals. When the Reserve was converted from agriculture, one area at a time, initially there were no animals except for birds and some lizards that were already living on the rocky dam interior face. It is likely that common Valley mammals such as coyote, opossum, ground squirrels, cottontail rabbits, rats, feral cats and maybe raccoons are present in the Reserve. Gopher snakes have been seen, and one or two rattlesnakes have been reported. Bullfrogs can be heard in the Wildlife Lake, treefrogs are found by the pothole pond, and one environmental document listed the California redlegged frog. There has never been a census of insects, but after over twenty years there are a variety of beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, praying mantids, butterflies, bees, wasps, dragonflies, damselflies and other insects TAKE GOOD NOTES BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE FIELD TRIP I WILL GIVE EACH STUDENT A WORKSHEET THAT THEY MUST FILL OUT (ALONE). THE ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION YOU MAY USE ARE THE NOTES YOU TAKE DURING THE TRIP. This handout is designed for my field lecture. The purpose of the field trip is to enhance both the concepts of Levels of Complexity _________________________________________________ and the field of Ecology [defined as ______________________________________________________ which includes both __________ (non-living) and _________ (living) factors]. Ecology can be studied at different levels - species, population, community, ecosystem and biome. This trip is designed to help reinforce your knowledge from the Ecology lectures. Material on this trip will be on the final – make sure to take notes so that you can study (i.e. organisms observed, explanations given, etc.). PART 1: IN THE SPACE BELOW DEFINE EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS Species _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Population _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Community _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Ecosystem _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Biome _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Organisms have developed different adaptations (define) _____________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ During the first portion of the trip we will look at three different plant species. Use the information that I give in the field to fill-in the table below. SPECIES 1 SPECIES 2 SPECIES 3 COMMON NAME ANGIOSPERM OR GYMNOSPERM DIAGRAM OF THE LEAF VENATION SIMPLE, COMPOUND OR NEEDLE DISCUSS ADAPTATIONS Simple leaf Pinnate venation. Simple leaf Palmate venation Compound leaf (venation not drawn) PART 2: IN THE SPACE BELOW DEFINE THE TERM NICHE. Niche _______________________________________________________________ Using the pictures that you printed out and brought to the trip, select three different organisms viewed during the trip and list one adaptation and its possible benefit, for each of those organisms. ORGANISM NAME ADAPTATION BENEFITS INTERRELATED AND INTERDEPENDENT In class we discussed the two things that cause every organism to be interrelated and interdependent: raw materials and energy. Raw materials cycle within a system while energy moves through the system in the form of food. Some examples of raw materials are carbon, water, nitrogen and phosphorus. The flow chart below shows a simplified water cycle. (Based on a diagram in: Cunningham, W.P. and Cunningham, M.A., Principles of Environmental Science: Inquiry and Applications. McGraw-Hill, New York. 2002. Pg 222). Water vapor (volcanoes) forms clouds. Clouds form which drop rain over the land and water bodies. Snow melts Runoff and rain infiltrate Into groundwater. rain goundwater Water from areas like the oceans and lakes evaporate and condense. Water flows into ocean. Energy (define ________________________________________________) flows through a system as food in a food chain/web. A food chain is defined as a series of linked feeding levels (trophic levels). At the lowest level we have producers. Producers capture energy from the sun and convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy. By what process does this occur? ___________________ What main pigment would be used?_______________________ PART 3: DEFINE EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS. Producer _______________________________________________________________ Autotroph _______________________________________________________________ Consumer _______________________________________________________________ Heterotroph _______________________________________________________________ Herbivore _______________________________________________________________ Carnivore _______________________________________________________________ Omnivore _______________________________________________________________ Scientists use ecological pyramids to visually illustrate the amount of biomass supported at each level (called trophic levels). Each trophic level is set in the pyramid based on how they acquire food, with organisms using the sun to produce food being at the bottom of the pyramid. Not all of the energy in lower levels can be used to support higher levels; therefore, we find fewer numbers of organisms at the higher levels. Movement of energy depends on both the: 1st Law of Thermodynamics ____________________________________________________________ 2nd Law of Thermodynamics ____________________________________________________________ About how much energy is lost from one level to the next? _________ Each level is called a trophic level and made up of categories of organisms. Trophic level 1 is made up of _____________________________________________ Trophic level 2 is made up of _____________________________________________ Trophic level 3 is made up of _____________________________________________ Trophic level 4 is made up of _____________________________________________ PART 4: FILL IN THE TABLE BELOW. IDENTIFY WHETHER THE ORGANISM FOUND AT THAT LEVEL IS AN AUTOTROPH OR A HETEROTROPH. TROPHIC LEVEL AUTOTROPH OR HETEROTROPH PART 5: USE THE PICTURES THAT YOU BROUGHT, THE INFORMATION GIVEN DURING THE TRIP, AND YOUR OWN OBSERVATIONS TO IDENTIFY A POSSIBLE FOOD CHAIN. YOUR FOOD CHAIN NEEDS TO HAVE 4 ORGANISMS (PLACE THE NAME OF THE ORGANISM IN THE BOX). DRAW WHERE ENERGY ENTERS THE FOOD CHAIN. primary producer primary consumer secondary consumer top consumer Ecosystems are made up of both interacting organisms and the physical environment. There are many different ways in which organisms can interact. Some of those interactions are indicated below. PART 6: DEFINE EACH OF THE INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS BELOW. Predation _______________________________________________________________________ Competition _____________________________________________________________________ Intraspecific __________________________________________ Interspecific __________________________________________ Symbiosis _______________________________________________________________________ Commensalism __________________________________________ Mutualism _____________________________________________ Parasitism __________________________________________ PART 7: DESCRIBE ONE SPECIES INTERACTION YOU CAN OBSERVE. The abiotic factors of an ecosystem are extremely important. Abiotic factors include environmental conditions like energy, matter, temperature, humidity, moisture, wind, space and light. For each physical property an organism has a tolerance limit – the maximum and/or minimum level in which the organism can still survive. When conditions move outside the tolerance limit the organism can not survive. Outside the limit Outside the limit Lower limit List 3 animals seen on the trip. Next to each identify one behavior you noticed. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR ADDITIONAL NOTES: Upper limit List 3 plants seen on the trip. Next to each describe the general surroundings. PLANT SURROUNDING